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Balletco Forum Available Again plus Opportunity to Discuss Future


Bruce

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Is that one simple operation clicking on the "Remember me" button or is there something else to be done? Because I've tried that but every time I close my browser window I seem to automatically logout and have to sign in again when I come back to the site. Maybe it's the browser that's the problem? I use Google Chrome. Thanks for any help, I'm extremely technologically challenged.

 

I also think an annual subscription payment is the most practical solution.

 

I've just tried with Chrome and it works for me.

 

Do you have cookies disabled on your browser? I think the forum software keeps track of who's signed in that way. To check you should go to Preferences/Under the Hood and then click Content Settings… in the Privacy section. The setting to enable is 'Allow local data to be set (recommended)'. Hope that helps.

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I've been a reader/lurker of Ballet.co for nearly 8 years now and when I first heard of its possible disappearance it was a really black day for me. Like many others, I would be very happy to pay an annual subscription to help ensure Ballet.co's survival.

 

But no institution can carry on in the same old way for ever. A point I would like to make is that when I first discovered this site it was not quite so serious. While I appreciate the knowledgeable input from the experienced ballet goers who now post, and whose invaluable input is not available elsewhere, there used to be a lot more light-hearted posts a few years ago, sitting happily alongside the expert reviews and comments. I loved reading about the funny things that happened at master classes and rehearsals and posters' fanciful speculations about everything from unlikely casting to the most unsuitable subjects for ballet (Delia's Complete Cookery Course and Star Trek being some of the wilder suggestions) but over the years these have died out, possibly for fear of seeming over critical of an art form under attack from so many other sources? I agree that many other online forums allow outrageously rude and offensive comments but surely there must be a happy medium between the obnoxious and the over-reverential?

 

I do hope that the committee will encourage the occasionally frivolous post as we all need a lighter look at things occasionally and I miss the laugh-out-moments of old that startled my fellow workers.

 

I would like to add that I am now fully retired and although my IT experience is more with larger, financial systems, I would be happy to offer my help in any capacity.

 

Linda

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But no institution can carry on in the same old way for ever. A point I would like to make is that when I first discovered this site it was not quite so serious. While I appreciate the knowledgeable input from the experienced ballet goers who now post, and whose invaluable input is not available elsewhere, there used to be a lot more light-hearted posts a few years ago, sitting happily alongside the expert reviews and comments. I loved reading about the funny things that happened at master classes and rehearsals and posters' fanciful speculations about everything from unlikely casting to the most unsuitable subjects for ballet (Delia's Complete Cookery Course and Star Trek being some of the wilder suggestions) but over the years these have died out, possibly for fear of seeming over critical of an art form under attack from so many other sources? I agree that many other online forums allow outrageously rude and offensive comments but surely there must be a happy medium between the obnoxious and the over-reverential?

 

I do hope that the committee will encourage the occasionally frivolous post as we all need a lighter look at things occasionally and I miss the laugh-out-moments of old that startled my fellow workers.

 

 

I miss the mix too. And although there is good support here (and now) it has been noticeable over the last couple of years that there was less discussion (other then Doing Dance and posts in Ticket Trade) and I think most of the ones 'lost' are the shorter contributions. You can't get away from the fact that Facebook and Twitter are there and many who might have posted here now contribute to the dance world via social media. See the ballet, Tweet that you heart a dancer or two and the job's done.

 

One of the things confronting both the community and the committee is how the forum builds in the future rather than contracts. At the moment the emphasis is on how the plates will be kept spinning in a post 'Bruce takes care of it' world. I'd hope that the current committee or the one that takes over in March (assuming it all goes ahead) will put some serious thought into this and engage more with the community on generating bright ideas. Although the old forum is still offline it will be back as a record and one of the things that a forum does far better then social media is remember and record what's happening. Try searching on twitter for the audience view of Wheeldon's Alice and you won't find anything meaningful - all those thoughts and excitement effectively lost. Forums I think are great, but its not shared so much as it was. Thinking caps need to go on I think.

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I would be interested to know if the ballet companies still check on the site. BRB used to post links to casting pages and such like on their own site. It was very useful. By my recollection, they and other companies used to sometimes respond to posts too.

 

One of the most valuable features of the forum is people's opinion but it is also useful for collecting useful information together in one place.

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I've just tried with Chrome and it works for me.

 

Do you have cookies disabled on your browser? I think the forum software keeps track of who's signed in that way. To check you should go to Preferences/Under the Hood and then click Content Settings… in the Privacy section. The setting to enable is 'Allow local data to be set (recommended)'. Hope that helps.

Thank you, JohnM, I've done that and for the moment it seems to be working. Fingers crossed!

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One of the most valuable features of the forum is people's opinion but it is also useful for collecting useful information together in one place.

 

I found it simply invaluable for advance casting information which helped me to plan my trips far ahead, and which I couldn't find anywhere else. The exchange of opinions about performances and performers is also fascinating and I learn a lot from that.

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BRB used to post links to casting pages and such like on their own site. It was very useful. By my recollection, they and other companies used to sometimes respond to posts too.

 

One of the most valuable features of the forum is people's opinion but it is also useful for collecting useful information together in one place.

 

(Answering in reverse order here: Quite - as opposed to having to hunt for it all over the net: companies' (and dancers'/creatives') Facebook pages, own websites, Twitter feeds, blogs and so on.

 

And yes, I totally agree. It's noticeable that, Janet's sterling efforts and a few others apart, coverage of those companies has very much dropped on this site in the last couple of years. I think the fact that certain companies had their own forums did encourage people to post there - but on the other hand, to have an individual forum you do need to have plenty of traffic going there, otherwise it just looks sad and lonely. It's also noticeable that coverage of the "Russian" companies has dropped since this forum started. And have we even *had* an ENB thread yet? Not a performance-related one that I can remember.

Edited by alison
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Regarding subscriptions, a yearly one might be better than monthly. Then you can pay and forget about it rather than having to make a payment every month. Also, that also would encourage people to "commit" to the site - rather than cancel after a month or two if that makes sense. Paypal is easy to use, I think, from a payer and payee point of view.

I think this is a very valid point. I am very happy to pay a subscription and would agree that Paypal is both easy to set up (from an admin point of view) and use.
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I had not realised that it is helpful information to sign in but will do so from now on.

 

I have been a regular "lurker" for a long time, but am not likely to be a "partaker". I am certainly willing to pay a subscription. Thanks to everyone for the site, and best wishes for continued success.

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Would be happy to pay a reasonable subscription if that's what it takes to keep this site running. I love reading all the threads ... there's a great deal of knowledge and advice out there in the balletco community and I would really miss not being able to tap into that. I too just have to visit every day!

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I have a thought regarding payment and that is how much would a non registered user be able to see and do? I would be happy to pay a sub but are you saying that perhaps ONLY those that pay will be able to use the site? I would be concerned that that would stop potential new members signing up as they may want to try before they buy!!

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(Answering in reverse order here: Quite - as opposed to having to hunt for it all over the net: companies' (and dancers'/creatives') Facebook pages, own websites, Twitter feeds, blogs and so on.

 

And yes, I totally agree. It's noticeable that, Janet's sterling efforts and a few others apart, coverage of those companies has very much dropped on this site in the last couple of years. I think the fact that certain companies had their own forums did encourage people to post there - but on the other hand, to have an individual forum you do need to have plenty of traffic going there, otherwise it just looks sad and lonely.

 

Some companies posted because Balletco hosted an official forum for/with them. It made sense until Facebook and Twitter came along and then all company efforts generally were invested into those 'open' platforms. Rather then see little used forums we decided to handle those companies as any other.

 

The generic position has been that companies and individuals cannot put up promotional postings because of the Forum Acceptable Use policy. The policy is being reworked by the Committee and is likely to be freer with regard to promotion. But that is for the committee to tell folks about.

 

As a community you don't have to rely on others to come along and promote news - there is room for more Janet's and Alison's to put news up for the benefit of all. Although I am dropping away I think I'd say that if you enjoy reading others thoughts and news then you might ask what you might do in return for the benefit of the wider community. Or perhaps 2 or 3 of you might loosely band together to cover one company in depth.

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I have a thought regarding payment and that is how much would a non registered user be able to see and do? I would be happy to pay a sub but are you saying that perhaps ONLY those that pay will be able to use the site?

 

Personally, I wouldn't want to see anyone locked out of the site (I remember a forum I would probably happily have signed up to some years ago, but the owners in their wisdom put the entire thing behind a password-protected area - you couldn't even get a sample of what was on offer - so I rejected it). Another site I'm registered with has extra benefits for subscribers - plus you get a nice big "SUBSCRIBER" under your avatar so that you can "stand up and be counted" - and I was going to suggest that might be a possibility, although I'm currently not sure about the "extra benefits".

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The steering committee formed to investigate the feasibility of BalletcoForum continuing met again a few days ago. The main message which resulted from that meeting is that BalletcoForum will continue for the foreseeable future.

 

There are a number of loose ends to tie up and the committee are not able to confirm details of everything at this time. However, we can confirm that no subscription will be payable for using the forum (and, accordingly, there will no content which is blocked to those who haven't paid) but that voluntary donations will be sought. More on that in the coming weeks. You'll note that Bruce M has paid for the forum to exist until 20 March 2012 and the committee will ensure that the forum is funded from that date until everything is put in place to allow users to make donations.

 

A new "acceptable use policy" has been discussed by the committee. There will, as Bruce has indicated, be some changes from the policy currently in force.

 

Many thanks to all users who have provided feedback and offered to assist in various ways. Unfortunately the committee are unable to respond to everyone individually but will make contact with some users regarding moderation of the forum and technical assistance.

 

In the meantime, keep using the forum - that's what it's there for.

Edited by Bruce
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The steering committee formed to investigate the feasibility of BalletcoForum continuing met again a few days ago. The main message which resulted from that meeting is that BalletcoForum will continue for the foreseeable future.

 

That's good to know. Thank you all for the hard work you've been doing behind the scenes.

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The steering committee formed to investigate the feasibility of BalletcoForum continuing met again a few days ago. The main message which resulted from that meeting is that BalletcoForum will continue for the foreseeable future.

 

Very good news. Thank you !

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if we wanted to make a voluntary contribution could you tell us how (practically- and I would definitely vote for paypal), and what is the kind of order of magnitude you need (eg if only 10% of users paid, how much would they each have to pay to keep it going for a year)... if we have even a vague idea how much is needed we can contribute accordingly!

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if we wanted to make a voluntary contribution could you tell us how (practically- and I would definitely vote for paypal), and what is the kind of order of magnitude you need (eg if only 10% of users paid, how much would they each have to pay to keep it going for a year)... if we have even a vague idea how much is needed we can contribute accordingly!

 

Further details will, as I said above, be available in the coming weeks.

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Hope this is the appropriate place to offer my assistance...

 

I am unable to work at the moment and have free time during school hours. Happy to offer my services as a part time Mod if required.

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The steering committee formed to investigate the feasibility of BalletcoForum continuing met again a few days ago. The main message which resulted from that meeting is that BalletcoForum will continue for the foreseeable future.

 

I'm so very glad to read this! Just wanted to reiterate that I would be very happy to make a donation once the modalities have been worked out.Thank you steering committee

:)

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